Adib Inquest: Broken Ribs Only Discovered During Autopsy

Kuala Lumpur Hospital pathologists discovered Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim had seven broken ribs only after the first post-mortem was conducted, a doctor told an inquest into the cause of the firefighter’s death.

The team of doctors performing the autopsy were not told about the injuries on the ribs prior to Adib’s death, said National Forensic Institute director Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood.

“Only when the post-mortem was conducted did we find out that Adib sustained seven broken ribs on the left part of his back.

Afif Abd Halim

“The injuries were so unique. It was straight and we believed it was caused by a hard impact from a solid object,” the doctor said.

The first post-mortem was conducted on December 18 last year, a day after Adib died.

According to Dr Shah, who conducted a clinical examination on Adib on November 30, days after he was admitted to hospital, doctors did not find any indication of broken ribs then.

“So, when we discovered the broken ribs during the post-mortem, I instructed the investigation officer to look for any X-rays that have might have been conducted when he was treated at Subang Jaya Medical Centre,” he told the inquest. – TMI